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Answering the rest of your questions from yesterday |
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I answered a number of your questions yesterday, but I did not get through all of them so here are some of the others.
I think two of the players you mentioned are definitely guys that the Penguins could end up dealing. Those players are Olli Maatta and Carl Hagelin. The other two are cheaper and more effective versions at the present moment. Conor Shear should have only been on the trade radar at that 4M range, but even then Sheary at 4M in his mid-twenties is probably still a better bet to produce than Hagelin entering his thirties. Olli Maatta used to be a very productive player in the very early goings of his career. I am of the belief that he does have some ability, but it was injected with steroids playing with Matt Niskanen in an easy role. That wasn't the real Olli Maatta. I realize I have beat that horse to death, but that is the objective truth. Last year Ian Cole had a 5v5 points per 60 of 0.97 while Maatta was at 0.50. Cole isn't exactly known for offense and playing with Schultz certainly helps on that front (ie Niskanen), but at some point Maatta needs to flash some of that 2013-14 version of him again for that contract to be worth it. The trick with Maatta is figuring out what the proper sample size is in order to figure out what direction he is going in. I'd like to see him play without Trevor Daley because that pairing was a nightmare, but you also risk his trade value going down if the results don't turn around. That skating isn't going to magically improve. It is what it is. You don't want a 4M long term contract like that not panning out if you're a team structured like the Penguins.
As far as hockey is concerned I think if you want a general look around the league with people that pay attention to detail the Hockey PDOcast with Dimitri Filipovic is very good. It is recorded frequently and has good guests.
The TSN Analytics podcast is very good, also. Anything with Travis Yost and James Mirtle is excellent. Maybe somebody could remind Travis that he has his own podcast that he forgot about after recording a whole two episodes ;)
Hockey Prospectus with Matthew Coller was excellent, but RIP to Hockey Prospectus.
As far as Penguins-centric I think your best bet is the Garage League Podcast with Andy Smith and Lyle Kossis. That is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to.
When Jesse Marshall and Rich Miller record an episode of the Pensblog Podcast that is worth listening to as well.
If you are looking for humor anything with Dave Lozo is good. He has the Puck Soup Podcast with Greg Wyshynski and he also has the Biscuits podcast with Sean McIndoe aka Down Goes Brown.
As far as non-hockey goes my absolute favorite TV/Movie podcasts comes from the gentlemen from Bald Move. They cover a lot of television shows (GoT, Westworld, Better Call Saul, Fargo, TWD, The Leftovers etc...) They get my highest recommendation and I probably spend the most hours of my podcast listening time on their work.
Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast is very funny.
The Watch with Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan can be very good if you are into what they are talking about. It has high variance because some of the subjects/shows I just don't care about.
If you like history related stuff Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is pretty amazing. Be prepared to have some time on your hands though, they can run about four hours each podcast(!)
Lastly, there's always the Hockey Hurts Podcast which I co-host with Cameron Walsh. It will usually have a Penguins section, but we try to cover the NHL in general each episode.
Hope that helps!
Honestly, it looks like a barren wasteland this year as far as Pittsburgh is concerned. They already have eight defensemen on the NHL roster so it wouldn't be worth the extra body at training camp. The Ryan Reaves trades eliminates one of the potential PTO spots that could have been available. I suppose things could change after the 3C trade, but for now I don't see anybody on that UFA list that makes sense at the moment.
This playoff format is moronic. I just need to get that out of the way. The problem with predicting one division getting five playoff teams and the other only getting three is that last year the Metropolitan Division was leaps and bounds better than the Atlantic Division, yet both sent four teams to the playoffs. Teams beat each other up within a strong division. There are only so many points to go around. It takes a perfect storm to get that five and three setup and good luck predicting that.
I think it is safe to say that when Connor McDavid is 25 years old he will be the best player in the league. When he "slows" down he will still be one of the fastest players in the league instead of maybe the fastest player in NHL history to still maintain puck skills at high octane speed. He ain't "slowing down" until his thirties. Sidney Crosby is the only other comparable as far as speed/skill go this era and Sid still seems to be doing OK...
If the Penguins get a player that is on their desirable list I think it is over. If they strike out it could go lower. I think Tyler Bozak is still the leader in the clubhouse, but I would like Eric Staal. Minnesota, rightfully so, just gave 11M combined to both Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter. We'll see if that changes their roster construction plans at all.
It's not meaningless, but it is also not as important as many people think. It isn't fun to lose close friends from your team. In a perfect world you would get to keep playing with the people who you have a close bond with. However, this is a business and that isn't lost on the players either. They are professionals. When it is time to play each guy is going to do what they do best on the ice. Players will form new bonds with teammates. In all the locker rooms I have been in whether it was playing or coaching I can only count on two hands how many players I really didn't care for and didn't want to be around. Throw in the fact the team is going for a three-peat and you'll have the returning players chasing a tremendous legacy while the new players would love to raise the Stanley Cup for the first time. The Penguins locker room will be just fine.
Absolutely not to Matt Cullen in a third line center role. If he is contemplating retirement that means he knows his body is almost out of gas. You can't play him in those kinds of minutes. This is also a very risky proposition because when (and yes I said when) Crosby and/or Malkin goes down then what? You are going to play Cullen top six minutes? Sure, maybe for a game or two, but that is asking way too much from him and it wouldn't be fair.
This is a great question. By this time Evgeni Malkin's contract will be expired and Sidney Crosby will only have a year left. This is crazy to think about. Time flies when you are having fun. It is not going to be an easy task for any general manager to transition from the Crosby/Malkin era into the next one. You can't tear it apart and tank for a top pick in the lottery anymore because of the changes made. To be blunt I only see two options for the team to transition from this era to the next. Either grow some courage and offer sheet a very talented RFA or get lucky in the draft lottery like Philadelphia just did (higher in standings but land a top pick).
Tough one. Jake Guentzel was somewhat easy to predict because he was putting up great numbers the second he hit the AHL. His great playoff run with WB/S in 2015-16 was something to take note of and then he destroyed the AHL. Unfortunately, that mother f'ing CHL transfer agreement has robbed Daniel Sprong from being able to compete at that level. I can't pretend to take any of the QMJHL stats seriously. He had a great year and it isn't his fault he had to play there, but guys like Max Talbot put up 100 point seasons in that league. Then there's also the issue with Ryan Reaves taking up a right wing spot. Where does Sprong earn his spot? You have Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Bryan Rust, and Sheary/Guentzel on top of the Reaves acquisition.
Zach Aston-Reese probably has more opportunity to crack the lineup now that Chris Kunitz has moved on, but when you look at the right wing being stacked you might see both Sheary and Guentzel playing the left side to start the year. Aston-Reese had eight points in ten games with WB/S before being hurt. I think he will start the year in the AHL and if he produces at a high clip he may have the inside edge at being the best "Guentzel" candidate. I would be surprised if either Sprong or Aston-Reese pull off the "Guentzel" though, that's a high standard.
This is a super slow time of year and I'm not going to lie the motivation to write is the lowest it gets all year. If you have a good blog topic hit me up on Twitter and maybe I'll run with it.
Thanks for reading!
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